2/1 is a SNOW DAY!

I know that you all are very excited about this, and I know that some of you probably aren't even going to read this post.

But, if you do, here are some reminders and tips for the next few classes.

English III:

If you'd like to spend some time getting ahead on your reading for Catcher, go for it. Please don't talk about future events in the novel during in class discussions (nobody likes ending ruiners...). If you choose to read ahead, keep up with your dialectical notebook entries.

English I:

A day poetry projects will be due the day we get back. That day will be an A day!

We will also begin studying Othello. While we're reading one play in class you will be reading one play on your own at home for a project. Honors students will be reading a Shakespearean play; Standard students have an option of a Shakespearean play or a play by another author approved by me. Take this time to do some research about a play you'd like to read.

Weekend Work - 1/29

English III

Over the weekend you need to finish reading chapters two and three of Catcher. As you read, complete your dialectical notebook entries. As you get further into the book it will be important to notice patterns and to consider what they add to the text.


English I

Your Poetry Projects are due the next day in class. Please bring them with you to class on Monday/Tuesday. If you have questions over the weekend, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment. I will NOT read drafts over the weekend!


Let it snow...Let it snow...But not too much.

Homework for 1/28

English III

Tonight you need to finish reading chapter one of The Catcher in the Rye. I would suggest that you reread the section of the text that I read aloud to you today at the end of class to review that information. Don't forget to complete your dialectical notebook entry for chapter one as well. Follow all of the instructions on that sheet.

English I

Over the weekend you need to finish your Poetry Unit Projects. Make sure that you have all of the pieces ready to go. Bring everything with you to class on Monday/Tuesday. I appreciate the fact that some of you have come to see me and conference about your projects. This is a great way to improve your score!

English III Honors - 1/27

Tonight for homework you need to finish your "America" papers. Take the commentary on the rough draft and turn the essay into a really polished piece of writing. Use the rubric to make your essay great!

Tomorrow when you come to class, I will collect your rough draft, final draft, and the rubric that I gave you today in class.

Jan. 26 - Homework for All Classes

First, English III:

I hope that you all had a good first day in class today. I threw a lot of information at you all but I think we're going to have a really good year. It's going to be important to keep the chatty-ness under control as we get going in the year. Tonight you need to finish your diagnostic essay assignment. The question that you're answering is:

What is "America"?

Use the brainstorming that we did in class today to begin this assignment. Do your best writing so that I can see what we need to work on throughout the semester.


Now, English I:

You all need to study for your Poetry Exam. Take the study guide I gave you and get ready. You should probably spend at least ninety minutes or so each night getting ready.

If anyone has any questions, please ask them here.

Homework over the Semester Break

9th Graders -

Over the long semester break I would like for you to work on your Poetry Projects. This break gives you a lot of time to get it finished and then you have time to check in with me before the project is due. Please take this opportunity to do good work and not be rushed.

Enjoy the time off.

Online Textbook Problems

I'm hearing from a lot of you that there are problems with the online textbook - I'm having these same problems. Continue to try, but if you can't get it to work, come to the room in the morning to work on this assignment - we'll review it in class. Do not put this assignment in the box.

UPDATE!!!!

I called the tech support people and they said that they were having problems with the website. Keep trying, but if you can't get it done - don't worry about it.

English I - Poetry Homework

Tonight you need to read two poems from the textbook. First, read "Once by the Pacific" by Robert Frost on page 423. After that, read "Country Scene" by Ho Xuan Hu'o'ng on page 425. After you've read both poems, answer the questions after "Country Scene." About Frost, answer questions 3, 4, 5, and 8. About Ho, answer question 4.

Bring these questions with you to class on Wednesday/Thursday.

Honors Assignment Only

Honors English I Students -

Your assignment this weekend is to read the poem by Wordsworth called "Ode to Duty." This is a very difficult poem to understand, but I'm sure that you can do it. Use the footnotes on the bottom of the page and my annotations. After reading the poem - answer the eight questions on the page.

If you need help - please leave a comment.

English III Homework - 1/6

Tonight's homework (which is the final homework of the course) is to complete a 1Q1P for "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock." Remember at the beginning of your paper to include the quote from the poem and the line number. The poem is not available from the online textbook. But you should be able to find it by doing a google search.

Your goal in the paragraph is to explain how the line connects to the meaning of the overall poem. As you write your paragraph, explore every part of your line. You are completeing a deep reading of the line. Leave no letter unturned

Tomorrow in class we will look at our last few poets and we will review for the final exam.

First Homework of 2010!

9th Graders!

For tonight, I want you to do some work on the poem that you selected for your poetry project. I would like for you to read your poem several times tonight - after you've done this answer the following question and put your response in the box.

Why did you choose the poem that you chose?

As you answer this question, I would like for you to answer with a clear topic sentnece that identifies the author and title of your poem written in the correct way. In your topic sentence, you should identify two or three specific things (literary devices) about the poem that influenced your decision. In the body of your paragraph, use examples from the poem to explain your answer.

This is due to the box on Thursday/Friday.

Work over Break!

To all of my students,

You don't have anything to do over break for my class. I would love it if you all picked up a book and read over the break - but I know that's probably not going to happen :)

You all have been working really hard. Take a long break, you deserve it. I'll have your papers back to you the day we return.

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah!


Miller

English III - Final Draft Night!!!

Tonight you need to finish your final drafts! I will not read over drafts tonight but I will answer questions that you may run into. Please e-mail me at daniel.miller1234@gmail.com to ask questions.

Also, Psycho starts at The Carolina Theatre at 9:20. I'll be out front of the theatre around 9:10 to meet any of you that want to see the show.

Hope to see you tonight! Finish your paper, then come to the movie.

English III Work for 12/16

Tonight is the night you write your draft or format your draft if you've already written it.

Make sure that you follow all of the rules for MLA format in your draft. These are very specific rules, and I must hold you to these rules. If you do not follow these specifications, you will be accused of plagiarism.

At the end of your draft, make sure that you have your Works Cited page formatted appropriately at the end of your paper. Bring in everything tomorrow as we will work on drafts tomorrow.

If you have questions on MLA format, use the sample paper that I gave you. Everything in this paper is good except for the works cited page, I think that this is not in the 2009 format rules.

If you run into any problems, please e-mail me. I will spot check your papers for MLA citations tomorrow.

English III Homework - 12/15

For tonight!

A lot of you in class today had errors in your outlines that will get in the way as you begin drafting. I would recommend that tonight you spend your time reviewing your outlines and revising the errors seen within those. If you have revised your outline or think that you have an understanding of your errors. Begin to draft!

I will give you a crash course in formatting your draft tomorrow. Tonight, if you choose to write your draft, don't worry about the MLA formatting. You can add this in afterwards. Get your ideas down on paper and create a good research paper. Remember that as you write each body paragraph you will need to make your topic sentences connect to your thesis, and make your examples connect to your topics through thorough explanation.

If you need help/assistance - please e-mail! Ask for help!!!

English I Homework - 12/14 and 12/15

Please be sure to bring your final drafts of your essays with you to class on Wednesday/Thursday. Your final drafts will need to come in with your rough drafts, outlines, and rubrics. Be sure that you have everything on the day that it is due. If you need additional help, please come and see me before the paper is due.

English III Homework - 12/14

Students,

Tonight you MUST complete the outlines for your research papers. Make sure that you follow the outline format that I gave you today in class. Be sure that everything is labeled. Make sure that every topic relates back and proves your thesis and that all of your topics have evidence to support them.

Tomorrow in class I'll be calling each of you over to go over your outlines. We'll also talk about how to turn the outlines into a full paper tomorrow.

Lastly, Psycho will be showing at The Carolina Theatre at 9:20 PM. It's a pretty late showing. I think that Thursday would be a good day to see the movie, how do the rest of you feel about this?

If you need help on your thesis statements or outlines, please e-mail me or leave a comment.

English I - Weekend Work

This weekend you all need to write your rough drafts of your paper about A Separate Peace. Bring your paper with you to class on Monday/Tuesday. Be sure that you have used your outline, and that you follow the rubric to help you write the essay. The rubric will be helpful to show you what you will be graded on.

If you need help over the weekend, e-mail me or leave a comment. I will not read drafts this weekend.

English III Weekend Work

This weekend you should collect ten notecards on your novel - your primary source. As you go through your novel, think about your thesis. What quotes and evidence support your idea? How can you connect the quotes and evidence from your novel to the criticism that you have been finding the last few days?

Bring your ten notecards with you to class on Monday.

Also, for those of you interested in doing some more research I would suggest Perkins Library on Duke's West Campus. If you are interested I will be willing to meet you at Perkins Library around 2:00 PM on Sunday for a few hours of outside of class research. Let me know by Saturday afternoon (5:00) if you're coming. I'll send an e-mail to those interested letting you know where to meet up. We can also, at this time, work on forming outlines and the other important parts of the paper. If you're interested, send me an e-mail (daniel.miller1234@gmail.com) or leave me a comment here. If you leave a comment, leave your e-mail address so that I can respond.

English III Review of Day - 12/10

Today we started the process of researching for your papers. Tonight, to work on this assignment I would suggest that you think about what you found today to create your thesis statement. Your thesis is (like always) key to this paper. Today we also talked about how to create an outline. As you work and research, you should think about organizing and outlining in your head.

Tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday we will be in the library to research. The reason why is because, as you learned today, the process to research takes a long time.

Another thing that you can do at home is to collect evidence from your novel to support your thesis. Remember that this paper will need to include evidence from critics and from your novel.

If, at any point during this process you feel lost, please come and see me! Don't wait to get too overwhelmed. This is a difficult assignment.